There's a diary on the rec list right now ripping into Obama for having the audacity to ask his supporters for (gasp) support. The author is someone I respect and whose work I usually enjoy. Yet in the course of this unusually disjointed ramble, she deploys the descriptor "hopey-changey" to describe Obama's presidency.
In fairness to the diarist, it's not the first time I've seen Palin's turn of phrase on Daily Kos.
Of all the sputtering, thundering failures on this planet of 6 billion people, is she the wordsmith whose work you really want to crib?
Really?
Before anybody blows a main valve and accuses me of censorship, I want to make it clear that this is a polite suggestion. I'm not issuing a call for hide-ratings or bannings. I'm arguing simply that we not do Republicans' work for them.
How is this not obvious?
More frequently of late, I see disgruntled Kossacks refer to Obama as "Barry."
This is what we've come to. Gitmo is still open for business and single payer's off the table so we're protesting by taking a page from Rush Limbaugh's playbook. What's next? "Barack the Magic Negro?"
The right pays Frank Luntz handsomely to spin phrases that will catch on among Republicans. Imagine how much it pleases that doughy pantload to know that Democrats are all too happy to parrot his work, too.
Go ahead and disagree with Obama, or whomever, and do it with gusto. Move the Overton Window every inch it gives. But take some pride in your work as a progressive contributor to this blog and stop speaking the language of hate merchants and clowns.
Words matter.